Days to Remember

We all have the dates of days that are important to us. Birthdays, anniversaries, deaths. As someone interested in history, and its impact on the present and future, I’m probably a little too obsessed with historical dates. But they give me a guidepost to events and help me understand the flow of history. It makes me think about the impact the event had on people that day, and how we view those events today. Next week one will be the anniversary of one of the most significant events in 20th century world history. Do you know what happened on May 8, 1945? Depending on your age, it’s more likely your parents or grandparents may know. It’s V-E Day. Victory in Europe. The day the Germans surrendered ending to end World War II in Europe. Millions gathered in Times Square, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and Trafalgar Square in London to celebrate the triumph over evil and death. It wouldn’t be until three months later, August 14, 1945 that the war would be completely over. Of course, you know that’s V-J Day. Victory in Japan. Again, huge crowds gathered around the world. We’ve all seen the picture of the sailor kissing the nurse. Right?

I don’t see remembering the significance of dates as just historical trivia. We measure our lives in time. Of course, when we live through events, they have a greater impact. Everyone of my generation knows where they were on 9/11 and November 22, 1963. I’m not sure younger generations could tell you the exact date Kennedy was assassinated. I think 9/11 will be remembered better by future generations because it is defined by the date. But just because we weren’t alive doesn’t mean we should forget, or think it’s not important. I remember my wife telling the story of a co-worker asking her what the date was. She said it was December 7th “the day that will live in infamy”. Her co-workers didn’t know what she talking about. When my wife explained it was the anniversary of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the start of our involvement in World War II, her colleague was impressed with my wife’s knowledge of history.

I will never forget April 15, 1987. It was the 40th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in Major League baseball. Baseball was putting his number 42 on all the second bases that day as part of the celebration. As we were discussing our local news coverage of the event in Philadelphia, the woman who was producing our 6pm newscast asked, “Who is Jackie Robinson?” I was shocked and angry that anyone wouldn’t know who Jackie Robinson was. I took a lot of patience to explain who he was without screaming.

This goes to the bigger issue of the importance we place, as a society, on history. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences administered the National Assessment of Educational Progress U-S history exam to measure 4th, 8th, and 12th grade students’ proficiency in U-S history. Eighth grade student achievement improved from the mid-1990s to 2014, from 14% to 18%. These assessments were done in 2016. In 2010, 4th graders showed an improvement from 17% to 20% which was better than the 12th graders. Even though these very disappointing numbers went up, the assessment concluded, “In every testing year, a substantial majority of children in the assessed grades failed to demonstrate proficiency in U-S history…research shows that young people’s ignorance of U-S history has been a source of public concern since the beginning of the 20th century.” That’s 116 years of concern. But I’m not sure we are concerned enough. There is much less of an excuse now in the digital world we live in today. History is in our hands. You can look anything up in seconds.

History has to be taught in a way that gets through to students. They have to be shown how history impacts the events they are living through right now. I know research also shows that American students are behind students from other counties in math and science. This will cost us our leadership in the fields of technology, science, and medicine. But if we don’t care about who we are as a society, where we came from, the events that shaped our world, and to use that knowledge to create a better world, we won’t have many days to remember in the future.